System and methods for identifying network path performance

Abstract

A system and method for aggregating performance characteristics for core network paths allows computation of message traffic performance over each of the available candidate paths through the core for identifying an optimal core network path. Particular network traffic, or messages, include attributes indicative of performance, such as transport time, delay, jitter, and drop percentage, over individual hops along the candidate path. A diagnostic processor parses these messages to identify the attributes corresponding to performance, and analyzes the resulting parsed routing information to compute an expected performance, such as available bandwidth (e.g. transport rate) over the path. Messages including such attributes may include link state attribute (LSA) messages, diagnostic probe messages specifically targeted to enumerate such attributes, or other network suitable network traffic. In a particular configuration, the messages may be Path Verification Protocol (PVP) messages.

1 . A method of identifying network routing paths comprising: 
 gathering network routing information indicative of performance characteristics between network nodes;    aggregating the identified routing information according to at least one performance characteristic; and    applying the aggregated routing information to routing decisions for network paths between the network nodes by identifying the network paths corresponding to favorable performance characteristics, the network paths defined by a plurality of the network nodes.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein aggregating further comprises: 
 identifying messages having attributes indicative of performance characteristics;    parsing the attributes to extract the routing information corresponding to the performance characteristics, routing information corresponding to characteristics between a particular node and at least one other node; and    storing the extracted routing information according to the performance characteristics between the respective nodes.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein applying further comprises: 
 identifying a plurality of network paths as candidate paths between a source and a destination;    computing, from the extracted routing information, for each of the candidate paths, an aggregate performance indicative of message traffic performance between the source and destination for each of the candidate paths; and    denoting a particular candidate path as an optimal path based on the computed aggregate performance.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 3  wherein applying further comprises: 
 specifying the attributes to be measured according to predetermined QOS criteria; and    routing network traffic on paths having performance characteristics consistent with a particular QOS criteria, the performance characteristics including at least one of transport time, packet loss, packet delay and jitter.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein gathering further comprises: 
 identifying particular paths operable to transport significant message traffic;    examining, on the identified particular paths, messages having the attributes indicative of performance characteristics; and    scanning the examined messages to retrieve the attributes.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the messages are diagnostic probe messages adapted to gather and report routing information, further comprising: 
 sending a set of diagnostic probe messages to the identified particular paths, the diagnostic probe messages operable to trigger sending of a probe reply;    analyzing, if a probe reply is received, the probe reply to determine performance attributes of the particular path; and    concluding, if the probe reply is not received, a connectivity issue along the identified particular path.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 identifying a plurality of nodes along a candidate path;    sending a plurality of diagnostic probe messages to at least one node along the candidate path;    organizing the received probe replies according to the node from which it was received, each of the nodes defining a hop along the path; and    analyzing the organized probe replies corresponding to the sent diagnostic probe messages to compute routing characteristics of the hops along the path.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising computing, based on a set of successively identified messages, expected performance between the respective nodes.  
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein gathering network routing information further includes: 
 receiving Link State Advertisement (LSA) messages, the LSA messages having attributes indicative of routing information; and    accumulating the gathered network routing information; and    analyzing the network routing information to identify path characteristics.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising: 
 identifying a plurality of network paths as candidate paths between a source and a destination;    applying the network routing information to the plurality of paths between nodes to compute a propagation time between the selected nodes.    computing, for each of the candidate paths, an aggregate transport time indicative of message traffic performance between the source and destination for each of the candidate paths; and    denoting a particular candidate path as an optimal path based on the aggregate transport time.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein applying further comprises: 
 enumerating a set of quality of service (QOS) tier levels, the QOS levels indicative of an expected throughput performance;    associating each of the paths with a QOS level; and    comparing the computed performance attributes to the associated QOS level to selectively route message traffic over a particular path.    
   
   
       12 . A data communications device having a diagnostic processor for analyzing network routing paths comprising: 
 an attribute sniffer operable to gather network routing information indicative of performance characteristics between network nodes;    a characteristic aggregator operable to aggregate the identified routing information according to at least one performance characteristic; and    a path scheduler operable to apply the aggregated routing information to routing decisions for network paths between the network nodes by identifying the network paths corresponding to favorable performance characteristics, the network paths defined by a plurality of the network nodes.    
   
   
       13 . The data communications device of  claim 12  wherein the characteristic aggregator is further operable to: 
 parse the attributes to extract the routing information corresponding to the performance characteristics, routing information corresponding to characteristics between a particular node and at least one other node, further comprising a repository operable to store the extracted routing information according to the performance characteristics between the respective nodes.    
   
   
       14 . The data communications device of  claim 13  wherein the path scheduler is operable to: 
 identify a plurality of network paths as candidate paths between a source and a destination;    compute, from the extracted routing information, for each of the candidate paths, an aggregate performance indicative of message traffic performance between the source and destination for each of the candidate paths; and    denote a particular candidate path as an optimal path based on the computed aggregate performance.    
   
   
       15 . The data communications device of  claim 14  further comprising a Quality of Service (QOS) specification indicative of QOS criteria, the path scheduler operable to: 
 specify the attributes to be measured according to predetermined QOS criteria; and    route network traffic on paths having performance characteristics consistent with a particular QOS criteria, the performance characteristics including at least one of transport time, packet loss, packet delay and jitter.    
   
   
       16 . The data communications device of  claim 12  wherein the messages are diagnostic probe messages according to a predetermined protocol adapted to gather and report routing information, wherein the diagnostic processor is further operable to: 
 identify particular paths operable to transport significant message traffic;    send a set of diagnostic probe messages to the identified particular paths, the diagnostic probe messages operable to trigger sending of a probe reply;    analyze, if a probe reply is received, the probe reply to determine performance attributes of the particular path; and    conclude, if the probe reply is not received, a connectivity issue along the identified particular path.    
   
   
       17 . The data communications device of  claim 12  wherein the diagnostic processor is further operable to: 
 identify a plurality of nodes along a candidate path;    send a plurality of diagnostic probe messages to at least one node along the candidate path;    organize the received probe replies according to the node from which it was received, each of the nodes defining a hop along the path;    analyze the organized probe replies corresponding to the sent diagnostic probe messages to compute routing characteristics of the hops along the path; and    compute, based on a set of successively identified messages, expected performance between the respective nodes.    
   
   
       18 . The data communications device of  claim 12  wherein the diagnostic processor is further operable to: 
 identify a plurality of network paths as candidate paths between a source and a destination;    apply the network routing information to the plurality of paths between nodes to compute a propagation time between the selected nodes;    compute, for each of the candidate paths, an aggregate transport time indicative of message traffic performance between the source and destination for each of the candidate paths; and    denote a particular candidate path as an optimal path based on the aggregate transport time.    
   
   
       19 . The data communications device of  claim 18  wherein the characteristic aggregator is further operable to: 
 enumerate a set of quality of service (QOS) tier levels, the QOS levels indicative of an expected throughput performance;    associate each of the paths with a QOS level;    compare the computed performance attributes to the associated QOS level to selectively route message traffic over a particular path; and    perform routing decisions for routing the message traffic according to a QOS level attributable to the message traffic.    
   
   
       20 . A computer program product having a computer readable medium operable to store computer program logic embodied in computer program code encoded thereon for identifying network routing paths comprising: 
 computer program code for gathering network routing information indicative of performance characteristics between network nodes;    computer program code for identifying particular paths operable to transport significant message traffic;    computer program code for examining, on the identified particular paths, messages having the attributes indicative of performance characteristics;    computer program code for scanning the examined messages to retrieve the attributes;    computer program code for aggregating the identified routing information according to at least one performance characteristic; and    computer program code for applying the aggregated routing information to routing decisions for the identified particular paths between the network nodes by identifying the network paths corresponding to favorable performance characteristics, the network paths defined by a plurality of the network nodes.    
   
   
       21 . A data communications device having a diagnostic processor for analyzing network routing paths comprising: 
 means for gathering network routing information indicative of performance characteristics between network nodes;    means for aggregating the identified routing information according to at least one performance characteristic;    means for computing, from the gathered routing information, for each of the candidate paths, an aggregate performance indicative of message traffic performance between the source and destination for each of the candidate paths;    means for denoting a particular candidate path as an optimal path based on the computed aggregate performance; and    means for applying the aggregated routing information to routing decisions for network paths between the network nodes by identifying the network paths corresponding to favorable performance characteristics, the network paths defined by a plurality of the network nodes.